STA reader “Anna” is an employee of McClatchy, a company that owns newspapers all over the country, from the Sacramento Bee to the Miami Herald. Employees found out on the news–not from their superiors–that axes were about to fall. Here’s her story.
No matter how many terrible days you have at work, most of us can go in every day secure that if the day does come where there are companywide layoffs, you won’t find out by picking up the morning paper.
Ironically, this is not true if you work in the newspaper business.
Employees of the McClatchy Company, third largest newspaper owner in the U.S., are learning today through the Wall Street Journal, Poynter and other sources that 11 percent of their workforce would be cut today.
Maybe I’m taking this a little personally because I work for one of this company’s papers in the southeast (but only for another four days, bitches! I put in my notice last week) but this shows a complete lack of respect on the part of Gary Pruitt, the company’s chief executive, for the people who have made him his millions.
Last year, as our company was tanking — thanks in part to McClatchy’s purchase of Knight Ridder, one of the dumbest ideas in newspaper history — Pruitt received a whopping $3.5 MILLION bonus on top of his $1.1 million salary, all while his minions were toiling away to earn roughly a 25 percent profit margin. (And just so you know, that’s pretty darn good in a year where everyone’s whispering loudly about recessions.)
A whopping 1,400 jobs were cut today, representing about 10 percent of the McClatchy workforce. Reporters, editors, advertising reps and press shop workers are all getting hit today, leaving with a small severance package and a pat on the back.
In my own newsroom, the staff sat in stunned silence as we were told who would be leaving. A total of 70 people lost their jobs at our paper and the smaller weeklies under it.
My deepest condolences to those who are affected by these cuts, and my best wishes to the rest of you who will be left behind to do the work of your former colleagues on top of your own.
My advice? Run.
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